"Shame on you": Parents' major backflip on their son's name causes outrage
A father has come under fire after revealing he changed the name of his adopted son back to his biological name after almost a decade, so his biological son could have the legacy name instead.
The man, named August, took to Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole?" thread to ask for the opinions of strangers on the internet if he had made the right decision about his child's life.
According to the dad-of-two, the name August has "gone back for five generations" in his family, and he had always planned on giving their child the name to continue the legacy.
When he and his wife had been trying to conceive for many years, they decided to turn to adoption so they could have a family.
They adopted a baby boy from Vietnam, whose birth name was Thien, and decided to have it legally changed to August VI.
However, seven years later, the couple found out they were expecting a "miracle" baby together, and decided to switch their adopted son's moniker back to Thien so that they could give the name to their biological baby instead.
The man's post, which has since been deleted, read, "My name is August V. My name goes back five generations now and it was always my plan to make my son August VI."
"My wife and I were horrified to find out I was essentially firing blanks and was told I would essentially never be able to father kids - heartbreaking."
"We started the adoption process right away looking in mostly foreign countries so it would go faster, and we were able to adopt a baby boy from Vietnam."
"His first name was Thien but my wife agreed to change his name to August VI. We also agreed we would let nature take its course because miracles can happen."
"Seven years later, a miracle did happen and my wife turned up unexpectedly pregnant."
"I decided with my wife's agreement that because we now have a bio son, it is better to give the firstborn biological son the family name."
The father went on to explain that changing Thein's name was not a huge deal, because even though his legal name is August, everyone referred to him as Thein.
When the dad informed Thein's school about the change, word got out about their decision, leading to the gossip mill in their town dubbing them "social pariahs".
"We are the subject of massive gossip - accusations of not loving Thein enough."
"We've heard it all through closed mouth hushed tones. It's gotten so bad. So, am I the a**hole?"
Redditors were quick to condemn the parents' decision, with many not holding back in order to make sure the father knew that he was, in fact, the a**hole.
One person wrote, "You are the a**hole. People like you really shouldn't adopt."
Another said, "You're the a**hole. You dragged your kid to a legal proceeding to make sure he knows his place will always be less than your bio son."
"Great way to show your adopted child that biology trumps all. Shame on you and your wife," another user raged.
Image credits: Getty Images